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This weekend was jam-packed full of fun and cultural activities around Lima! We visited a beautiful park, the beach, ancient ruins, and saw a folk dance show. As we attempted to make the most out of our last weekend in Lima, we saw many amazing people and places. First up was the “water park” we went to on Thursday. At first, we were expecting to need our bathing suits. However, as it turns out, the water park is a park full of different beautiful water fountains. Right in Jesus Maria, El Parque de la Reserva contains multiple colorful and interactive fountains. During our time at the park, we also saw a light and water show which used water fountains and projections. This park was truly breath-taking, and a must see if you ever find yourself in Lima!
Pictures from La Parque de la Reserva (Thursday Night)
Pictures from the Barros Dance Show (Friday Night)
Picture from the Beach in Barranco (Sunday Afternoon)
On Friday, we visited the ruins of the city Pachacamac. Pachacamac is an archeological site in which they found artifacts and buildings from four different civilizations throughout history: the Lima (after whom the city is named,) the Incas, the Ychma, and the Wari peoples. The city was a fairly large one back in its time, and archeologists believe only the most elite people lived there based on the size of the houses. Excavation of the site began in 1917, and yet
there are still many buildings left unexcavated due to funding. Of the buildings we saw, the most astounding to me were the Temple of the Sun and the Acllahausi, a house that was meant for only the most elite of women. The Temple of the Sun (featured right) was an
Inca temple built up on a hill. All four civilizations built their temples in that location, as it was the highest point of the whole city. The temple was used for worship and sacrifice. Archeologists found 90 bodies of sacrificed women stored in the temple.
As breathtaking as the Acllahausi was as a ruin, I can only imagine what it looked like back in its prime. Our tour guide told us that it was a sort of Inca boarding school mixed with a country club, and it used to house up to 70 women. He pointed out the doors to their chambers and where there supposedly was an indoor swimming pool at one time. This house is set apart from the rest of the city, and our tour guide pointed out the remains of a wall that used to block the Acllahausi from sight. These were very special and elite women who lived in the house, and thus security was tight. If a man invaded the grounds, he and his family were killed, and his entire neighborhood was punished. The women were sent from the richest and most powerful families to live in the house at age 8. They grew up there and received, according to our tour guide, an excellent education. Then, they were either sent off to be married to the most powerful men in the city, sent to a convent-like building as eternal virgins, or sent to the Templo del Sol to be sacrificed; the last was the fate chosen for the most beautiful of women.
Acllahausi
In seminar, we have been asked to consider whether or not education is a political and ethical activity. Certainly the kind of education that went on in the Acllahausi was. This kind of education was given only to the powerful Inca women. The whole point of the Acllahausi was to seclude, educate, and groom these women into the adults that society wanted them to be. Whichever of the three fates was chosen for the women of the house, they would have been prepared for each one. In this circumstance, education was used as a manifestation of power and as an ethical cleansing of the women.
Flash-forward from the time of the Incas; does education still fulfil these roles? It certainly holds the same power. Quality education is often times saved for the elite, which I have seen both in my time teaching in Milwaukee and in Lima. Resources and funding tend to determine quality of education; thus, learning, knowledge, and power become intertwined in a sort of political game. Those who are set up at birth to inherit power are further plunged into this role through educational opportunity. Less broadly, I believe that teaching within the classroom is also political. Teachers have goals and standards that they want their students to meet; as such, they are intentionally providing students with certain ways of knowing and thinking. Students know what their teachers want to teach them. Therefore, being an educator is quite influential. Educators wish to form their students into critical thinking, ethical, informed, and capable citizens. In many ways, this pedagogical philosophy is the same as it was in the days of Acllahausi; teachers wish to prepare their pupils for their future rolls in society. As such, teaching is a highly political act.
So, how should educators handle having this sort of influence and responsibility? In my opinion, it is important that teachers help aid the formation of students without squashing individuality. We have to acknowledge and teach that there is more than one way to be and more than one path to take in life. The woman of Pachacamac did not get this choice; they were chosen for roles and groomed into those roles, almost like objects. In order to avoid treating our students as objects, we must help to guide them into their futures and into being the ethical citizens we would like them to be without enforcing any sort of tyranny. Standards are in place so that students grow properly, but we must not let them inhibit inquiry and learning. A problem and curiosity based pedagogy as proposed by Freire, helps to prepare students for the future while allowing them to become autonomous and to be themselves. This upcoming week, we will be exploring different neighborhoods, sites, and schools all over Lima; personally, I will be searching for this kind of political education. Until then, adios!